‘I’ll manage on my own.’
Perryfoot had been carried for most of the last part of their walk over the rocks and Sam with his longer legs had been able to manage more easily than the badger but Brock had declined any help, determined to make it on his own. Now here he was confronted by another situation which taxed all his fortitude. It was all right for Warrigal, he thought as he looked at the bird perched on a rock staring out to sea. Warrigal, however, was not as unconcerned as Brock thought: he was thinking to himself that he had never before flown over such a large expanse of water and with such violent and gusty winds ready to pull him off balance. He watched a group of gulls and tried to pick up any hints he could, admiring the way in which they used the wind rather than trying to fight against it.
Nab and Beth sat down together on a rock at the very edge of the sea and stared down into the grey depths. They were so far out that the waves did not break against the rocks; instead the water rose and fell, reminding Nab of the words of Wychnor which he seemed to have heard so long ago: ‘And in joy at his creation he invested the sea with a fragment of his power so that it heaved and rolled even as he breathed.’ He watched hypnotized by the movement as the water funnelled between the rocks where they had been worn smooth and round, rushing in furiously and then being sucked out again almost as fast as the waves withdrew for another onslaught. Then out at sea he heard once again that long mournful sound they had heard on the cliff top answering Faraid’s horn and looking up he saw the seals returning. So it was they who had made that noise: somehow it suited them for these graceful creatures seemed to Nab to be the embodiment of all the suffering of the animals while at the same time containing within them their essential qualities: purity, innocence and strength and now, perhaps, a new element – hope. Swimming on their own they spent a lot of time under the water; their heads disappearing suddenly and then reappearing a little while later somewhere else, totally unexpectedly. Soon they were by the side of the rocks, breathing heavily and occasionally snorting out of their nostrils so that their long whiskers quivered, and all the time staring at this strange but very interesting assortment of land creatures who, for some reason, seemed rather nervous and wary of the water.
Nab turned to Beth. ‘I’ll help you down,’ he said, trying to appear brave and unconcerned but in truth as apprehensive and frightened as everyone else. Beth in fact was perhaps the least nervous because she had been out in a yacht once or twice with her father when they had been on holiday with some friends who lived by the sea, and also she was able to swim quite well. Holding on to Nab’s hand she climbed backwards down the rock until she felt her boots in the water and then she managed to get one of her legs on the other side of the seal who had swum over and was using his flippers to keep himself steady alongside the rock. She lowered herself down on to his back and then with her legs wrapped tightly round him she let go of Nab’s hand and found herself bobbing up and down very comfortably except for the fact that her jeans were wet up to her knees and felt cold and clammy against her legs.
‘I’ll go with you,’ said Perryfoot urgently and Beth smiled up at him.
‘All right, you lazy old thing: hop on,’ she said, and Nab handed him down to her. Beth held him cradled underneath her while she bent down and put both her arms around the seal’s neck so that her face was resting on his back just a few inches from the water.
‘No pride,’ thought Brock to himself, but of all the animals Perryfoot was the one who, with his short legs, would have been least able to cling to a seal and cross alone.
Beth tried to say something to the seal but he appeared not to hear her. Faraid called down, ‘They don’t speak your language; they only know the language of the sea. I’ll tell him when to go. Are you ready?’
She replied that she was and Faraid spoke to the seal which suddenly took off across the water. At first Beth found it hard to hang on because he was so slippery and she panicked when she got a mouthful of salt water but once she had got used to the powerful rhythm of his swimming and was able to more or less guess when they would hit a wave so that she could hold her breath, she began to enjoy it. The sea under her face sped past in a blue-green mass of ripples, and looking back she could see the white foaming wake left by the seal’s flippers. She turned her head sideways so that she could just see the sky where it met the sea on the horizon and as they got further out she was able to see other bays and beaches along the coast. It appeared to be deserted except for the occasional cottage perched up in the mountains which rose from the sea like towering fortresses. She wondered whether anybody might be looking out over the water and what they would think if they spotted her; a girl in a brown cloak riding on the back of a seal. Pinch themselves to make sure they were not dreaming, she thought; but they were now too far out to be seen clearly anyway.
‘How are you feeling?’ she called to Perryfoot, but he could not hear her above the roar of the sea. His eyes were shut tight and he was shivering with fright; his legs splayed out across the seal’s dark slippery back and the nails of his paws fully extended to try to get a grip.
She turned her head so that she could look back at the others on the rocks. They appeared to be just about to set off. Brock, having tried to sit on the back of one of the seals, had fallen off and had to be hauled out of the water by Nab, so he had now condescended to ride with Faraid and was sitting astride the seal looking extremely uncomfortable with the elf behind him holding him on. Sam was riding with Nab. Like Beth he had been to the sea once before with the Urkku who had owned him and so it was not altogether strange. In fact he used to swim in the ponds around Silver Wood and he had been thinking of trying to swim across to Elgol but he did not like the look of the waves and it was a long way from the shore. The knowledge that he could swim if he fell off, however, gave Sam a lot of confidence and this helped Nab feel better as he sat shakily on the seal’s back behind him.
‘Ask him to go slowly,’ he shouted above the waves to Faraid, and the elf called something to the seal before they moved away from the rock.
‘Sam,’ shouted Nab, ‘sit still,’ for the dog was wriggling around in front of him trying to get his mouth in the water so that he could play at catching the waves.
‘Don’t worry; I’ll hang on to you if you slip,’ Sam said, laughing.
Overhead Warrigal was flying against the wind and experiencing some difficulty with the strong air-currents until a cormorant came up and helped him by showing him how to fly low over the water where the wind was less gusty and more constant. The owl felt that the nearer the water he flew the less room would he have to correct any errors before he was in the sea, but when he tried it he found that it worked and soon he was skimming above the waves with enormous pleasure, alongside the others who looked at him enviously.
Soon even Brock and Nab relaxed a little and began to enjoy the ride. They became exhilarated with the sight of nothing in front of them except the vast ocean twinkling in the late afternoon sunlight and their hearts lifted with the feel of the wind in their hair and the spray on their faces. They anticipated the slight thud as the seal met each wave and braced themselves with excitement for the next one. Only Perryfoot, small and completely out of the element of which he was master, remained so frightened that he was unable to even open his eyes.
